If your Natural Life is Spiritual, then you
can let your Spiritual life be Natural.
For many years, I have been to multiple conferences each year, focusing on different aspects of ministry. The speakers have challenged me from their messages and examples of their own lives in various areas of evangelism and discipleship. As I have compared my life to theirs, I am left with a sense of guilt at times, not measuring up to what they were doing. Furthermore, I would at times experience a reluctance to even approach the areas of ministry the way they had done. It has taken me some time (And I am still working on this!) to realize that I don’t need to do things the way that others do them. I also have come to peace with the thought that I am not gifted the same as others in different areas of our ministry. There are a number of those in our ministry that are quite gifted in evangelism. Likewise, there are others whose lives are very productive in areas of discipleship. The breadth and depth of ministry of others in our team of Navigators has varied considerably. As I reflect on this, I am led to the fact that we are all different in terms of our temperament, our personalities, and our approach to others. The Lord’s team consisted of a Zealot and a former tax collector for the Romans. It included the outspoken Peter and a number of others whose conversations were not even recorded. They were expected to be different reflecting their own personalities as they followed Christ. A Navigator speaker some years ago mentioned that if our natural lives are spiritual then we can let our spiritual lives be natural.
Have you ever had the experience of being in a situation where you were into some aspect of ministry that was not a natural reflection of your spiritual life? Tim Downs describes such an experience in his book “Finding Common Ground.” He related that his group in college was told one evening to go find someone and share their faith. He states that he met that announcement with “the same enthusiasm he would have in looking forward to a root canal!” He and a friend spotted a solitary figure who seemed to have nothing to do and asked if they could share the contents of a little booklet. The man turned and walked away, his eyes glued to the sidewalk. He said nothing in response to the question so they began reading the booklet. As they continued to read, the man began walking faster, his eyes never leaving the ground before him. They plunged ahead with the reading “Man is sinful and separated from God so we cannot know Him personally or experience His love.” They came to an intersection. Without waiting for the light to change, he darted across. They were right behind him, reading fast. “Jesus Christ is God’s only provision for man’s sin. Through Him alone we can know God personally and experience His love.” By this time, they were almost at a dead run. They arrived at his dormitory just as the presentation was finished. He was out of sidewalk. They were out of laws, and everyone was out of breath. As Tim recounts the experience, it was clear that this was not a natural expression of their spiritual lives!
For some individuals, their gifting and personality leads them to naturally share Christ with others wherever they go. A friend of mine once had the opportunity to go door to door with Bill Bright, the founder of Campus Crusade for Christ. He related to me later that Bill had a gift for making people comfortable in his presence and moving naturally to the gospel presentation. I have known others in my lifetime which have that natural God given ability as well. To me, that is not a natural expression of my spiritual life. I am more accustomed to developing relationships and then asking about their interest in looking at the Bible together. God will ask us to move out of our comfort zones, but he will not ask us to do that which is an unnatural expression of our spiritual lives.
What is meant by the statement, “The natural life is spiritual?” The simplest definition would be a life ruled by God. The life of Christ would be visible in words and deeds before others. An example of what this looks like can be found in I Timothy 4:12. “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.” If this is true of our lives, then our natural conversations, our business dealings, and our relationships with others will allow the spiritual life to be natural. We can comfortably be ourselves as we seek to deepen relationships that will bear the weight of God’s truth. The fragrance of a naturally spiritual life is unmistakable! It is described in Ii Corinthians 2:14. “But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him.”
Our Lord states the following to us in Luke 9:23. “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” These are the basic requirements for our natural life to be spiritual. The denial of self is inward and hidden; the taking up of the cross is outward and visible. To follow Him is to trust and obey. If our natural life is spiritual, then we can rely on His promise to us in Matthew 4:19. “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” If our natural life is spiritual, “Follow me,” then we can let our spiritual life be natural, “I will make you fishers of men.” The Lord Himself will take the responsibility for letting our spiritual lives be natural. We can trust Him to do naturally in our lives that which demonstrates what Eugene Peterson describes as “the unforced rhythms of grace.”
In Christ, Richard Spann